1. Good Morning, my name is wendy pascoe
Good Morning, my name is wendy pascoe. I work for the Arkansas department of education in the special education unit. My is on the bottom of this slide is you want to contact me at a later date.
This is : IEP basics
We will be discussing
the WHAT
The WHO
the process of the IEP
And answering any questions that you might have
Let us start with a few clarifying terms.
LEA, or local education agency or public agency, refers to a school district, a school or a education service cooperative.
The words child and student may be used interchangeably in this presentation.

2. To understand an IEP, we must understand the laws behind the Individuals with disabilities education act (IDEA)
Signed by President FORD in 1975, PL The Education for all Handicapped Children’s Act was written:
“to assure that all children with disabilities have available to them … a free appropriate public education which emphasizes special education and related services designed to meet their unique needs
to assure that the rights of children with disabilities and their parents … are protected
to assist States to provide for the education of all children with disabilities
to assess and assure the effectiveness of efforts to educate all children with disabilities”
This law was Amended in 1997
And Amended, again, in by Congress. This last amendment included greater accountability and improved educational outcomes, and raised the standards for instructors who teach special education classes.

3. IDEA 2004 (Part B) major provisions
There are 6 major concepts driving the IDEA
(the)Zero reject philosophy- says that every child can be educated, regardless of the severity of the disability
Procedural safeguard and due process- offer rights and assurances to parents and families. Provides parents and families option within the special education process when a disagreement arises.
Nondiscriminatory evaluations- means that LEAs must consider the cultural and racial needs and native languages of all students. Evaluation policies and procedures needs to be fair and accurate.
Parental participation- is a core concept throughout the IDEA. parents and families are encouraged to be equal partners throughout the entire special education process.
Confidentially-is threaded thru the IDEA. All parts of the special education process are to be considered confidential. any personally identifiable information, evaluation results, or other identifying information should never be shared with a person not directly involved in a student’s special education services.

4. What’s in an IEP? What is in an IEP?
In the most simplest terms, An Individual Education Program (IEP) is a written statement of the educational program designed to meet a child’s individual needs. It is legally binding and protected under federal and state law.
The IEP can be understood as the blue print for the special education program across school environments such as :
the general education curriculum, extracurricular activities, and nonacademic activities.
The IEP has three general purposes:
to set challenging, yet reasonable learning goals for a child, and
to state the services that the school district will provide for the child.
to identify the strengths/needs of the child related to their disability

5. What’s in an IEP? What is in an IEP?
Every IEP must contain the following:
1— the child’s present levels of academic achievement and functional performance (also known as the PLAAFP). This component of the IEP describes how the child is currently doing in educational environment and how the child’s disability affects their involvement and progress in the general curriculum or age appropriate activities. It is the base of developing an IEP. Without a solid PLAAFP the whole IEP will crumble.
2— annual goals for the child based upon collected information and data, including what families and the school team think the child can reasonably accomplish in a year. Goals must contain the following: current data, relevant to child’s needs, objective, measurable, understandable ( to any other educator)..aka ‘portable’. IEP Goals are reviewed and revised at a minimum annually.
3— the special education (or specialized instruction) and related services that will be provided to the child. Related Services are services such as occupational therapy, speech/language pathology, counseling, or transportation. Special education or specialized instruction are written in any area that child has an functional or academic need
4— how much of the school day the child will be educated with their typically developing peers (least restrictive environment). Usually, the more restrictive an environment becomes, the more dependence upon on adult support a child will need. The federal government is crystal clear that all children are to be considered for general education, first.
5— when services will begin (a specific date), how often services will be provided(minutes per day or week or even per month), where services will be provided (general education setting, special education setting, secluded room), and how long services will last (a specific date)
An IEP may, also, contain Behavior Intervention Plans. Behavior intervention plans that should be incorporated into an IEP and not seen as a separate document that works apart from an IEP.
For students approaching the end of their secondary school education, the IEP must also include statements about transition services, which are designed to help youth with disabilities prepare for life after high school, including:
postsecondary goals related to training, education, employment, and, when appropriate, independent living skills;
And the transition services needed to assist the child in reaching those goals.

6. Who develops an IEP? Who develops an IEP?
The IEP is developed by a team
The IDEA requires specific people and roles to be filled at every IEP meeting. The roles that must be filled at an IEP meeting include:
Parent,
regular education teacher,
special education teacher,
a representative of the public agency,
an individual who can interpret the instructional implications of evaluation results,
and at the discretion of the parent or the public agency, other individuals who have knowledge or special expertise regarding the child, including related services personnel as appropriate,
and whenever appropriate, the child with a disability.
A child’s IEP must also be reviewed at least annually there after to determine whether the annual goals are being achieved. An IEP can be reviewed or revised ( aka amendment) at anytime during the year

7. Can students be involved in developing their own IEPs?
Can or should students be involved in developing their IEP?
IDEA requires that the student be invited to any IEP meeting when transition services will be discussed. Federal law states that transition services must begin when the student is 16 years old. As stated on an earlier slide, these are services designed to help the student plan for his or her transition to adulthood and life after high school.
However, A child CAN attend their IEP meeting at any time, when it is appropriate.

8. Parental Involvement and Procedural Safeguards
We have covered what is inside an IEP and who develops the IEP.
Now lets look into the IEP process
Remember, parental involvement and procedural safeguards are part of the entire IEP process and should never be lost sight of.

9. This is Arkansas’s special education process from a Referral to the Implementation of an IEP
The LEA is required to adhere to each timeline listed and are monitored for compliance every 4 years by the Department of Education.
Lets walk through this timeline

10. Referral
Referral
If a child is suspected of having a disability which adversely affects educational performance and is in need of special education and related services, a referral can be made by the child's teacher, or an any other educational profession, the child's parent or guardian, the child, or anyone with relevant knowledge of the child.
The referral is to be made in writing by using an ADE required Referral Form. (It is the LEA’s responsibility to assist whomever is making the referral to get it on to the required ADE form)

11. Referral Conference Referral conference
Within 7 days of receiving a Referral, the LEA attempts to contact the family and schedule a Referral Conference. The Referral conference must be held no more than 21 days after the date on the Referral Form.
A referral conference requires a different group of individuals to attend than an IEP meeting. Attendees at a referral conference must be, at a minimum: Parent/guardian of the child, a teacher who has knowledge of the child, and the principal or a designee of the LEA
At the Referral Conference existing information and data about the child is reviewed. The purpose of this meeting is to determine if the school has the information necessary to move to the next step in determining if the child is eligible for special education services. At the referral conferences it is also determined if the following is needed:
a comprehensive evaluation
a specialized evaluation (such as just academics or just behavior)
OR the team determined the child does not need special education services
At this time, if the team decides an evaluation is needed, a Consent to evaluate is obtained from the Parent/Guardian for the evaluation. Parent consent starts a 60 calendar day timeline.

12. The orange rectangle indicates where we are on the Arkansas special education process

13. Within those 60 days the assessments, that the parent/guardian gave consent to, must be completed.
Once the Evaluation is completed, the LEA has 30 additional days to schedule and hold an evaluation conference.

14. Eligibility Conference
At this conference, the team must decide whether or not the child meets the required eligibility criteria for an IDEA disability in the state of Arkansas.
Arkansas has 12 disability categories for children aged 5-21, and 10 disability categories for children ages 3-5.
It is important to know that if the child is eligible for special education services, the parents or guardians have a legal right to decline the initial implementation of services, if they choose. They also have the right to revoke special education services at anytime once a child is eligible for services.
This type of information is included in a document called “Your right under IDEA” ,which is given to parents during the IEP process

15. The orange rectangle indicates where we are on the Arkansas special education process

16. Eligibility Categories
Here is the list of eligibility categories for children in Arkansas. There are a few difference between the early childhood categories and the school aged categories. the School aged category includes Specific learning disability, Intellectual disability and Emotional disturbance, which the early childhood category does not.
IDEA Eligibility categories are not medical or psychological diagnoses. They are educational categories created by the IDEA to assist LEAs in determining the strengths and needs of students who potentially have a disability.
Determining a student eligible for special education services is a 3-pronged decision. First the student must meet the criteria in an eligibility category; second, a student must be in need of specialized instruction to make progress in the general education curriculum; and third, the disability must impact the student’s academic and functional achievement to be eligible for special education services.

17. Evaluation Conference and IEP Conference, combined..
An IEP can be developed at an Evaluation conference as long as the parent/guardian are aware of this. The parent would be notified prior to the meeting (On the Notice of Conference form) that the development of an IEP was on the agenda.
Or an IEP meeting can be scheduled at a later date, but within a reasonable amount of time.
Once an IEP is written, services must begin within 30 days.

18. To give a better perspective of the time it can take to develop an IEP, From the receipt of a referral to the implementation of special education services can take up to 111 calendar days, that is the equivalent of 3 months and 3 weeks.

19. So... we have an IEP written and in place and we moving through the school year….
Who might request a review (or an amendment) of an IEP
And Why?

20. Amendments to the IEP amendment to an IEP
A parent or guardian who has custody of the child, the child, OR any IEP team member can request an amendment to an IEP. Again, an IEP team member can be:
Parent,
regular education teacher,
special education teacher,
a representative of the public agency, an individual who can interpret the instructional implications of evaluation results,
and at the discretion of the parent or the agency, other individuals who have knowledge or special expertise regarding the child, including related services personnel as appropriate,
and whenever appropriate, the child with a disability.
Why would we amend an IEP? There are many reasons..
o Any lack of expected progress toward the annual goals and/or in the general education curriculum
o Information from any new evaluation or reevaluations. SOmetimes family get evaluations from outside clinics and want to bring this new information to the school.
o Information or concerns shared by the parent/guardian or teacher or other school personnel
o consideration of Extended School Year services
o address Transportation needs. The LEA is obligated to provide transportation to the child if the child cannot not get to the place where the IEP services are being offered.
o discuss Assistive Technology needs

21. Does the IEP team have to meet again to amend the IEP?
No,
the team can choose to use alternate methods, such as a phone call with the parent followed up with a Notice of Action form. This is a very effective way to make small changes on an IEP.
For large amendments, such as new goals, new placement or different services, a face to face meeting is usually necessary. But the law allows LEAs to clarify this and decided when amendments should be held face to face.

22. So what exactly is in an IEP?
As mentioned previously, there are goals, related services, special education services, and many more components contained in an IEP.
However, all Services in an IEP are intended to support a child in participating in age-appropriate activities (for preschool aged children) and make progress in the general education curriculum( for school aged children).
The goals developed by the IEP team are educationally relevant, meaning that each goal is connected to a component in the child’s educational career. For example, some children struggle with managing their executive functioning and blurt out words during class. This type of deficit could be considered a social skill deficit. So how do we make it educationally relevant? We would write the IEP goal in a manner that would teach the child to develop more socially acceptable communication and therefore would be able to participate more fully in the class. Participating more fully in class will allow the child to participate in age-appropriate activities or make progress in the general education curriculum.

23. So lets break from the IEP for a moment and talk about 504 plans
Formally called: Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
Section 504 was the first disability civil rights law to be enacted in the United States. It prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities, and it set the stage for enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act, also known as the ADA. Section 504 works together with the ADA and the IDEA to protect children and adults with disabilities from exclusion, and unequal treatment in schools, jobs and the community.
Section 504 has a broader definition of a disability than the IDEA. It says a disability must substantially limit one or more basic life activities. This can include learning, reading, communicating, and thinking. That’s why a child who doesn’t qualify for an IEP might still be able to get a 504 plan.
A 504 plan contains accommodations necessary for the child to make progress in the general education curriculum.
And A 504 plan, like an IEP, is provided at no cost to the child or parent
However, Unlike an IEP, a 504 plan does not carry additional funding.

24. 504 plan and an IEP
Here is a nice side by side description of the similarities and differences between IEPs and 504 plans developed by Understood.org

25. Special Education Glossary
Here is a special education glossary

26. Special Education Acronyms

27. What question do you have?